Adventrue Bikes Don't Crash Well

31 days ago I was having the time of my life blasting up a winding gravel mountain pass on my F800gs. I was using the rear brake to back the bike in and the throttle to slide the rear end around and get the front wheel pointed up the road. Just prior to my crash, I was musing, "this is probably the closest I will ever get to experiencing what Marc Marquez feels". HAHA! It felt great, right up until the moment of impact.

Stupid fucker that I was, I managed to lock the front brake (abs off), with the power on exiting an uphill left, (yes, I did say stupid fucker) instantly overwhelming the front tire and I went down hard! I was 22 miles from the nearest paved road and alone with what turned out to be a broken clavicle and two broken ribs on my left side. I did the tuna in the road for a bit, caught my breath, stood up, went back to my bike and hit the kill switch. I rested, all sweaty and feeling like I was going to puke. I knew I had to right that 470 pound beast or I was screwed. The pain was setting in and I told myself to do it now, as the window of opportunity was closing. To my surprise, I was able to do it without too much drama using the leg lift technique I learned at Rawhyde, but I did hear and feel things moving around in my shoulder. I had a emergency American Spirit stashed under my seat and lit it up and sucked in all it's nicotine goodness. Once a junkie, always a junkie.

My bike was not looking too good. The handle bars were bent and cocked 15 degrees to the right at the risers. My subframe was both pushed over to the right and twisted down to the left. My Altrider crash bars (upper and lower) did there job, but the force of the smack down busted my radiator loose. My TT windscreen, all the fairing panels on the left side and my Akrapovic sport muffler were all rashed to hell. Thank God for the crash bars, or I would have been praying for a signal and making a 911 call.

From there, I slowly picked my way down the mountain and made it back to the highway. Once on the pavement, the 50ish miles home were actually kind of OK, but I could not return the wave to my fellow riders. Made me feel bad, like I was a Harley dickhead. Which was really bad, as most of Harley guys waved. My wife was really pissed off when I got home. This was not the first time for this sort of thing. I guess I'm "irresponsible", "Selfish", "Stupid" etc., etc.

It's been a month, and I now I can tie my shoes and kinda sleep in my own bed, though I still prefer the recliner. I missed 5 days of work to Hydrocodone haze. I know I got off easy. I lost my best friend four years ago. He succumbed to injuries he sustained in an MC crash 8 years ago. He had a seizure while he was taking a piss, fell and his airway was blocked when his head got trapped between the toilet and the wall in his shitty little single wide trailer. If you can believe, he used to own a local Ducati dealership. I degrees...

I got my repair estimate today, $6,100. Had I been on my '04 WR450, I probably would have gotten away with a few fresh gouges on top of some old ones. The injuries to me would have been about the same. I'm going to have the bike repaired and brought back to showroom condition. Then I think I'm going to sell it. A local dealer has some '14 Ninja 1000's he's blowing out for 9k and I put down a deposit. While big "Adventure" bikes do work amazingly well in the dirt, God help you if you auger one in, cause your going to pay!

You're worried about crashing a big trailie and you are going to a litrebike?

i launched my adventure bike 50 feet into the woods, 10 feet high or more, at 50mph, and all it broke was a mirror stalk and my gopro(which wasnt recording). scratched the tail rack a little too i guess, but that doesnt count, and broke ribs dont count either....

my adv bike is a 690 ktm.

You can do a lot more damage going slower on a lighter bike, it all depends on how you land/fall and into what.

Its not really HARD to ride a big bike in the dirt, its just not very SMART.

I LIKE dirt riding because I can go nuts and not get a ticket (yet), so I just went small. I first tried a tw200, it goes through stuff very well, not much risk of falling/crashing, but I found it odd, so I got a 230 pound XT200 which has some suspension, and with the light weight, its easy to keep up in the nasty stuff.


"irresponsible", "Selfish", "Stupid"

I have heard that before....

Slight repair.

If you want to ride alone, dial it down. You can ride one of those in amazing places safely at a slower pace.

You're gonna get a hunh? Whaa?

DR 200, 250ish pounds, tips over nearly once a month. I pick it up and go on. Easy peasy.
Why give up off-road riding when you can make equipment and style adjustments and enjoy exploring the subtleties of more technical riding? That Ninja 1000 isn't going to handle the gravel or crash any better than the GS.

Do you not have insurance? I biffed a Strom a few years back that insurance totaled out. Cost me the $250 deductible.

I'll bet he's planning to use his WR450 off road

Hmm. It seems there are a ton of dirt oriented crashes around here that involve some bad injuries - were talking broken bones, pins, surgery. Is it really that much safer than riding on the street? Really?

Yes, of course, you'll be much better off riding stupid on a 1000cc sport bike, they crash much better. Solid logic, good choice.

Against my better judgement, I'll respond to this.

He is still going to ride his WR in the dirt, and his stupid litre bike on the street.

I have a B12 for the street and WRR for the woods. I enjoy both.

Used to have a 650GS, but it's neither a woods bike not a street bike. Picking it up in the woods was about as much work as it was to pass a tractor trailer at 80MPH.

And while I crash regularly in the dirt (twice today) I haven't crashed on the street in 20 years.

Sorry to hear about your off. I managed to snap my l/h clavicle on July 5th while I was out on my KLX. Same dilemma after I endo'd after tagging a stump on a downhill section. I knew that my collarbone was fubar but I had to get out of there. Not a pleasant sensation listening to bones grinding but you grit your teeth and get it done.
Took about 2 months before the shoulder felt strong enough to venture back out on the KLX-atleast I have a matched set of clavicles now.

BTW-broken ribs take forever to heal up, just be thankful that you didn't puncture a lung(been there, done that, including the med-evac ride to Erlanger):eek1

If my wife said that shit to me, she would be my ex-wife.

That's no way to talk to your SO, doing something they love, that they knew about when they accepted your hand in marriage.

Life's too short to get shit on by the ones you surround yourself with.

Sorry you took a spill man, that sucks. Based on your description of what you were doing, I don't suppose any bike is going to crash well.

Glad you made it out all right. As to what the SO said: Yeah, taking on the risks of playing MC racer up a mountain by yourself is a bit selfish and irresponsible... Tell her to get over it.

To some extent the motto "The bigger they are the harder they fall" applies. A lot of variables exist in any crash but the amount of energy that has to be absorbed by various parts of the bike in an given crash is completely dependent on weight of the bike. Heavier bikes do not crash as well as lighter ones, all other things being equal.

Love your KTM! It will sell quickly.

5 weeks now & feeling much better. Clavicle is about half way there. Ribs still hurt miserably, but oddly getting used to it.

As you can see from my first post, the crash was not the bikes fault. I've got this really terrible habbit of covering the front brake off-road (without realizing it) as if I were on the street. That compromises my grip, and in this case led to some really awful throttle control. I learned my lesson and will never do it again.

The F800gs did not quite make the threshold to be totaled and will be repaired (thanks to my insurance) for $6,173. I'll hang on to it, and ride with more respect off road. Just because I can light up the rear tire and drift it at 50mph, doesn't mean I really have the skills to do it. I love the versatility, commuting, touring, the ability to get off the beaten track; in many ways it's the perfect MC. I've had liter bikes in the past and eschewed them as they tend to be just too much for the street, so the Ninja's out.

My wife's has backed off. After riding for 27 years (married for 12) it's unthinkable for me not to have an MC in garage. I would be miserable and she knows that.

All the parts will be ordered tomorrow & with any luck my bike will be done in a week or so.

Cheers!

My purple titty. HAHA!

All's well that ends well. Glad you are doing OK and back on track :) I ride my TEX anywhere, but within its limits. I consider it to be a Cherokee not a Wrangler. Just because I can go off the road doesn't mean that I can do all of the off-roads...

Nice nipple shot there. Keep the 800GS and like it has been said just tone it down some. It is a very good bike and mine goes on dirt a lot but not fast into corners. I only drop at slow speeds on tight switchbacks but I got a Rekluse to cure that shit. Much nicer now. Thinking about my pending back surgery then picking up a WRR250 and see how I like that too. I'll keep my 800 for the longer trips and use the 250 for some shorter stuff. Glad you are healing up. Voltaren…. ask the doc for some. It's like prescription Asper Creme. Also ask for Lidocaine patches they work even better.

Yes, of course, it is.

In my case, dirt riding has been much worse then street riding.
Lots of busted stuff in the dirt, no busted stuff on the street.
When I first started street riding 40 years ago, I slid out twice in the rain very drunk with no injury other then a bit of rash.
11 broken bones last count in the dirt.

I think you could be killed very easy on the street if you are not careful.

The bigger, taller, heavier and more powerful the bike is, the worse the crash.